What if the government were destroyed?

Okay, suppose there were a vote of No Confidence being held - every single MP is there - and the Houses of Parliament were to get hit by a meteorite, killing everyone. Suppose also that there were a contentious piece of legislation going through the Lords, so they're all dead too. To whom would government devolve? Obviously, Brenda is still Head of State, and elections need to be held, but in the interim, but what does she do? Does she call what's left of the Privy Council? Who governs? Who would become acting Prime Minister?

Okay, suppose there were a vote of No Confidence being held - every single MP is there - and the Houses of Parliament were to get hit by a meteorite, killing everyone. Suppose also that there were a contentious piece of legislation going through the Lords, so they're all dead too. To whom would government devolve? Obviously, Brenda is still Head of State, and elections need to be held, but in the interim, but what does she do? Does she call what's left of the Privy Council? Who governs? Who would become acting Prime Minister?

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at this point the poet laureate would be the most senior remaining public figure and would therefore be summoned to buckingham palace to form a government.

The civil service permenant secretaries would be perfectly capable of seeing the machinery of government ticks over until an election is called. I'd personally trust them more than Prince Charles and local councillors taking over.

Okay, suppose there were a vote of No Confidence being held - every single MP is there - and the Houses of Parliament were to get hit by a meteorite, killing everyone. Suppose also that there were a contentious piece of legislation going through the Lords, so they're all dead too. To whom would government devolve? Obviously, Brenda is still Head of State, and elections need to be held, but in the interim, but what does she do? Does she call what's left of the Privy Council? Who governs? Who would become acting Prime Minister?

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We don't have quite as comprehensive a plan as the "War Plan UK" that applied during the cold war:

The four still-living ex-prime ministers (probably only three as Maggie's past it) would form a caretaker government with assistance from any other ex-ministers still around.

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Only if they were still MPs, by which light they'd have died at the Palace of Westminster. There's no post-Reform Act 1832 precedent for a government being formed from non-elected elements. It's constitutionally-impossible and would set a precedent for dictatorship.

Only if they were still MPs, by which light they'd have died at the Palace of Westminster. There's no post-Reform Act 1832 precedent for a government being formed from non-elected elements. It's constitutionally-impossible and would set a precedent for dictatorship.

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In the scenario, there are no MPs left, nor any members of the House of Lords. They must have thought about how to deal with this in WW2. Invoking the Privy Council, with Major as the acting PM (being of the same party as the now-deceased government), while elections are organised and held seems pretty reasonable to me, but the Privy Council would also be rather thinned. And it would still take many months: you'd need a month or so to select candidates, another 2-3 months for the new candidates to sort themselves out as a team and thrash out policy and generate a manifesto, then a final 4-6 weeks for campaigning. That's perhaps 6 months without political direction. Or, if you will, 6 months without politicians around to fuck things up.

In the scenario, there are no MPs left, nor any members of the House of Lords. They must have thought about how to deal with this in WW2. Invoking the Privy Council, with Major as the acting PM (being of the same party as the now-deceased government), while elections are organised and held seems pretty reasonable to me, but the Privy Council would also be rather thinned. And it would still take many months: you'd need a month or so to select candidates, another 2-3 months for the new candidates to sort themselves out as a team and thrash out policy and generate a manifesto, then a final 4-6 weeks for campaigning. That's perhaps 6 months without political direction. Or, if you will, 6 months without politicians around to fuck things up.

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Better that (far better! ) than L & L's ridiculous usurpation of constitutional politics. It also needs to be borne in mind that solutions for wartime are not designed to function as solutions in peacetime. Different needs and different laws apply.

Only if they were still MPs, by which light they'd have died at the Palace of Westminster. There's no post-Reform Act 1832 precedent for a government being formed from non-elected elements. It's constitutionally-impossible and would set a precedent for dictatorship.

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You appear to be taking this thread seriously!

Anyway, I enjoyed the thought of John Major trying to keep Blair and Brown from each other's throats.